Rock Band 3 Fender Squier to be £219.99?
Up until this point, we haven’t been given many details on the price of the Rock Band 3 Fender Squier, but it looks like we may have something much more substantive in the form of a post from UK gaming site MCVUK.com. In a recent post, they commented that:
Next year, the line-up will be complemented by a £219.99 full-string real guitar that goes one better than the realistic-looking Mustang controller.
While this is still not an official confirmation of the price, in my opinion, it does bode well for how they want to price this thing. We heard John Drake mention a pricing floor of $250 a few weeks ago, and if you compare the UK pricing of the Mustang and Squier, you can back into a price of about $265 for the Squier. When I first tried this out at E3, I thought there was no way it would be less than $300. If this is the case, as pricey as it still is, I think it validates the thinking that they want to put this in as many hands as possible.
Note: I guess I need to explain this a little more just so we’re all on the same page at how I got to the $265 estimate. Cross-country peripheral pricing is not based on currency translation. Take Australia, for example. The AUS dollar to US dollar translation rate is nearly 1:1, but games cost nearly $90 (AUS) down there. Based on the closest peripheral to the Squier, the Mustang is priced £124.99 in the UK and $149.99 in the US. If you use the same relationship of USD to GBP and apply it to the £219.99 Squier price, you get $264.
UPDATE: Just chatted with John Drake. The £219.99 price referenced in the MCVUK piece actually refers to the retail price of the new full body 5-button controller (the updated version of this one). But he did mention that we should have official pricing details soon!
[MCVUK.com via @toymachinesh]
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Oh wow. That’s decent. I might buy one and I think Fender’s are incredibly mediocre. But I think I like that idea better than trying to pretend buttons are strings. Yuck.
Andre Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 10:34 am
Fender’s mediocre? As someone who’s planning to start playing the guitar soon, what are good brands in your opinion?
spudz Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 10:46 am
Fenders are quality but you do pay extra just to have “FENDER” on the head.
Andre Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 10:58 am
Guide the guitar noob here, come on. Good guitars, please?
Xzyliac Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
While not a straight tube amp you can get a Vox VT15 for $170 brand new. $100 if you shop around and you’re patient.
warcabbit Reply:
October 21st, 2010 at 10:56 am
Can’t disagree with the VT15 as a choice, it’s very nice. It’s just not a real ‘tube amp’, so I didn’t count it in as something he’d be likely to think of. I mean, if you just say ‘tube amp’, you’re going to be looking at other things.
Xzyliac Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 11:50 am
No one can really tell you which guitar you’ll like. My best advice, and the advice most will give you, is to go to your local shop and play around and see what guitar (or brand) you think sounds and feels right.
For me, I never liked Fenders. Fenders are light and admittedly produce a very clean sound. That said, STRICTLY IN MY OPINION, they don’t sound very good if you’re looking to get away from that clean souund (i.e. heavy distortion) and they lack punch and bass.
I’ve always been a fan of Gibsons because they’re heavy (I personally like a lot of weight behind my guitar), they’re thick in the neck, and they have that bass that Fenders traditionally lack (with the exception of a few older 60s models I’ve played). They’re also pretty versatile in my opinion. Especially once you get into the $1,000+ range (the Firebird is $3,000 and the best guitar on earth in my opinion).
I also like Ibanez’ that I’ve played but they’re pretty limited in sound I’ve noticed.
Now, again, you asked for my opinion and there it is. However do not take it as law. The beautiful thing about music is how varied it is. Go play everything you can and make your own opinion and let no one sway you. If it sounds right to you go for it.
Fenders are very good beginner guitars because they are light and the neck of the guitar is very easy to get a grip on. So your choice of Fender isn’t a bad one. For my money I just think they’re nothing particularly special but use your own judgement. If you’ve played a few guitars and you know you like Fenders stick with it. It’s totally objectionable. It’s not like it’s gonna just fall apart in your hands.
Xzyliac Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 11:58 am
Also, people say Squier’s and Epiphone’s (the cheaper divisions of the Fende and Gibson brands respectively) sound less impressive than their more expensive cousins but I can’t tell a difference and my old teacher (a guitarist of 40+ years) used to say the same thing.
My last piece of advice is if you’re serious about this get a tube amp. Anything other than tube is the Devil.
Andre Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Hahaha that’s awesome advice, thanks. Yeah, right now I pretty much don’t know anything about music. So I don’t wanna be like someone who’s never tasted wine and pretending to know the nuances between many wine types.
I guess I’ll just pick a beginner guitar right now and, with time, get to know other models.
Also, tube amp. Got it. Won’t forget that advice.
warcabbit Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Oh, don’t listen to the snobs. For one thing, tube amps are expensive. You don’t need a Blues Jr to get a decent sound, at least, not starting, and not for practice.
I’m pretty happy with my Vox DA5, cost me a hundred bucks. It’s a 5 watt amp, runs off wall current or off C-cells, which last for about 20-30 hours. It’s a modeling amp, which means that it has built in effects to make it sound like a much more expensive amp. Actually, not just one, but about eight, ranging from Fenders to Marshalls to Voxes. And it has a bunch of built in effects pedals, too, so you can do some reverb, or flanging, or whatever.
As far as a guitar goes… a cheap-cheap is 200. A decent is 500. And then pro-models are 1300 or so.
Me, I found something about as good as a $500 guitar, for $200.
http://store.guitarfetish.com/
Check out the Xaviere guitars. They’re inexpensive, but well made, and the parts in them are what people normally do to cheap guitars to make them better. Truthfully, the pickups are better than a lot of aftermarket pickups. Look, think, pick up the Stratocaster-alike, maybe. But spend the extra fifty bucks on the hard case. It’ll be worth it, in the long run.
Any questions? I’ll pay attention here for a few days.
warcabbit Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
Oh, yeah. A lesson book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087930989X/ref=oss_product
I like this. It’s flat-bound, so it stays open nicely, it covers technique and practice well, and the examples feed on each other well.
Fair warning: you’re gonna hurt. If you’re not bleeding from your fingertips in the first few weeks, you’re probably not fingering hard enough. But you’ll build calluses, and it’ll get better.
Andre Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
To be completely honest, I’m not a TOTAL newbie. I have taken acoustic guitar lessons a LONG time ago (more than 10 years) when I was 19, but due to work and studies, I ended never touching it again. So I know my fingers will bleed.
RB3 and its Pro Mode are the push that I was waiting for. So I wonder if the Squier will be a good beginner’s guitar… because I will surely be buying that one.
But the first poster said that Fender guitar are mostly mediocre, so I was confused. I know the Squier is a cheap-cheap Fender guitar, I just wanted to know if it doesn’t even fit for learning the basics.
And speaking of basics, I am going to order that book you recommended. It looks really good. Thank you very much!
warcabbit Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
The Squier is… well, it’s not great, but it’ll do. You may want to look into replacing the machineheads. (tuners), because they may slip. We’ll see, and I’m sure people will post appropriate and easy modifications when it gets here. But it’ll do, it’ll do. The Rock Band ones will probably get a better setup than the generic ones.
But yeah, the normal Squier is kind of trading on Fender’s good name more than anything.
Much rather have an Xaviere than a Squier. But… the important thing is making a joyful noise unto the Lords of Rock, right? Don’t worry so much, concentrate on fingering properly hard, and it’ll do fine for you.
Xzyliac Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
You can get a nice tube amp for cheap. I have no clue how advising a tube amp comes off as snobby. >.>
warcabbit Reply:
October 21st, 2010 at 8:15 am
I dunno. Most decent tube amps look like $500+ new, which is kinda not cheap. I mean, what are you recommending? Plus, they tend to be in the 30w range, which will blow the house, and maybe the neighbors. Especially if it’s a Fender amp, with the uneven pots… you know, 0-4, 4 rocks the house, and then 4-10 almost no change. Plus, of course, the highly entertaining maintenance needs of the tube amp. I mean, you really want to explain to someone how to diagnose something that’s microphoning?
For someone learning, I’d go for a nice practice amp, either a Vox DA5, or a Roland Micro Cube. (I prefer the DA5 to the Micro Cube, but that’s personal.) Not too much an investment, not too big, works off batteries if needed, and so on. The added advantage is that they can sound like multiple different kinds of amps.
Now, when you get good enough to want other people to hear you, then you want to put some money in.
Because a bad and cheap amp can make a good guitar sound like crap, and a good amp can make bad playing sound pretty good.
As a rule, I find people saying ‘put massive amounts of money in when you’re not sure you want to stick with it’ aren’t really giving the best advice. I think that’s a little snobby. If I offended, my apologies.
warcabbit Reply:
October 21st, 2010 at 11:17 am
Also, the Rondo Agile series has a good reputation for a very cheap but decent beginner’s guitar.
http://www.rondomusic.com/electricguitar-ss10.html
Again, I prefer Xaviere to Rondo, but YMMV.
Polite Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Also, you should take into account the type of music you play. For example, for harder rock, industrial or metal, you are probably better off with a solid state amp over a tube amp, and you should look at b.c. rich, esp, and jackson guitars. The low end b.c. rich guitars are a bit rubbish though, but i have a limited ed white virgo and it’s fantastic. Also quite a few of the cheaper solid state amps come with some pretty impressive sounding built in effects these days, like the marshal fx range, and the line 6 spider amps.
Also, really when it comes down to it, you aren’t really going to know a good guitar until you’ve been playing for a while, so there isn’t much point being too picky to begin with in my opinion. If you are still playing 6-12 months down the line, then you can head back to the store and when you try out the guitars you’ll understand what feels good.
Andre Reply:
October 22nd, 2010 at 8:05 am
Thanks everyone for the many tips and for the discussion. It’s being really useful, really, thank you.
I don’t think I can really pin a style that I play right now. I like a lot of different music, from death metal to punk to classic rock to new wave to blues to country to surf music to ska… well, you get the idea…
I guess I’ll just start with the Squier for now and pick a Vox DA5 then. I’ll look for that one for sure. And later on I’ll try to pick a guitar that’s better for what style I decide I like to play more. Really, thanks again everyone.
If this thing comes in at under $300, I will be impressed. You can get a regular Squier Strat for around $200, maybe a little less. With all the extra tech involved, I was thinking at least $250, probably more like $300. Anything less than $300 is a good deal, as far as I’m concerned.
Wow. That’s a lot better than expected.
you do realize that british pounds sterling is 1 for 1.57 us dollars so a british price of £219.99 at todays exchange rate would equal
$348.0854 even allowing for a higher euripean price which seems to be the case the squier probably wont sell for lesss than $300 USD Drake mentioned a base body cost of $250 for the squier body which people couldnt understand since the squier is a cheap guitar and a real one can be had for around $120
Persoanlly I will wait 8 months for the price to drop when they have too much stock because it was priced too high to begin with and pick up one then.
Doom-878 Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 10:01 am
Saw this too. At least it ain’t $400
seinman Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 10:18 am
$350-ish is still a good price, I think. I was expecting it to be in the $400-$600 range, and therefore had decided not to purchase it. But for under $400, I’d have to reconsider. Hopefully a US price will be announced shortly.
Sorixas Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 10:47 am
But usually people sell things like these cheaper in North America. So, I see a $299 price point, maybe.
RockBandAide Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 10:54 am
Cross-country peripheral pricing is not based on currency translation.
Take Australia, for example. The AUS dollar to US dollar translation rate is nearly 1:1, but games cost nearly $90 (AUS) down there.
Based on the closest peripheral to the Squier, the Mustang is priced £124.99 in the UK and $149.99 in the US. If you use the same relationship of USD to GBP and apply it to the £219.99 Squier price, you get $264.
RedIon1992 Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Living in Australia, I can tell you that games actually cost $100 for new releases, and they’re trending towards $110. EB Games is the only retailer handling instruments… at $300 for a Pro Guitar or a drum set. Yes, $300 for the drum set alone (although that includes cymbals).
No wonder I’m importing the instruments.
Polite Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
a perfect example is comparing the pricing between ebgames in the US versus AU.
http://www.ebgames.com/browse/search.aspx?N=0&Ntk=TitleKeyword&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntt=rock%20band%203
http://www.ebgames.com.au/search?title=rock+band+3
The mustang guitar is priced at almost twice the price of the US version, and the drums are over twice the price, which even at the worst our of our dollar in the last 12 years, it is still a ripoff.
Grrr @ AU pricing. The same goes across the board, not just computer accessories.
Considering the Mustang is £120 in the UK, I think this is pretty good value. You’re only paying £100 extra for a real fricking guitar.
If this is really £220 I will be all over it. I was worried it would be closer to £300
Yeah…I think that people are being a bit forgiving about the price. You can get a Squier guitar from Guitar Center for much, much cheaper than $250. Hell, last year on their Labor Day sales, I got a Squier with an Amp for $100. The standard price for this kit is $200:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender-SE-Special-Strat-with-Squier-SP-10-Amp-Value-Pack-104486238-i1177837.gc
This also ignores the fact that you don’t JUST buy a guitar. You buy a game, a guitar, and if you actually want to sound good, an amp and tuner.
The talk of “extra tech driving up the price” is also BS. While yeah, the guts of the guitar are new…the guitar has more subtracted from it than it has added. It only has one pickup, as opposed to the three on every other Strat variant and Strat copy ever made (with the exception of the Hello Kitty). There are no bass/treble knobs, either. No tremolo bar. And because there is only one pickup, there is no pickup switch.
The only genuinely new thing about it is that one pickup (it’s not like we see the control pad, start button and select button up to where it’s $250 for a new Xbox controller)…and the new pickguard.
So really, this thing is more expensive than it should be.
RedIon1992 Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 11:10 am
It’s the bits you DON’T see that are the expensive ones in here. Normal guitars have a big slab of wood for the neck. In the RB Squier, that is hollowed out and filled with electronics to pick up the finger positions. And for the accuracy, speed and quantity required… that won’t come cheap.
kelso76 Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 11:17 am
…….i think you’re forgetting the technology in the neck(detection of the fingers and their position in real time).does it reing a bell?
RockBandAide Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Yeah, the addition of a cutting edge proprietary touch sensitive fretboard may adjust the price, as well.
spudz Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
Do we actually know for a fact that it detects fingering based on a touch-sensitive neck? Is there an article here about the actual tech of the guitar?
Though I’ve got to say, if the guitar has a hollow neck outside of the wiring, then you’re going to have a horrifyingly fragile instrument that is not going to last you long if you actually play it intensively.
Really not seeing any real rationale for the price.
RockBandAide Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Yes… http://rockbandaide.com/8652/fender-announces-squier-pre-release-email-list/
Also, here’s me playing it at E3 and trying it out in real life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8Odny0H3Ds
It’s the real deal.
Polite Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Yes, it’s also the reason why you can’t use a guitar with a standard midi pickup for the game, sadly.
Pro mode being a great feature and a good way to take it all forward. But its not cost effective and not many people will jump on the bandwagon. I’ve played every music game since GH2, as much as I love what Rock Band are doing, I will not fork out for this.
RockBandAide Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 11:24 am
It’s not cost effective… to YOU. To people that want to take the next step from playing Rock Band guitar to REAL guitar, it’s an immensely attractive proposition.
If this is the price for the new full-body 5-button guitar, that makes me apprehensive about the Squier price. Hopefully we’ll know in a few days. *crosses fingers*
Polite Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
The full body rock band guitars were always over priced, so i’m not too worried yet.
I know this post turned out to not be about the Squier, but I’d just like to say that I wish they had figured out a way to do a day/date release of the Squier with the RB3 launch.
That being said, perhaps this will work out better, at least for me. This will give me time to get a Mustang (which might also not be available on launch day) and try out pro mode before spending a bunch more money on a real guitar.
It’ll also give me time to see how much actual pro-guitar material Harmonix plans to release. We already know that not all songs will offer it.
And maybe, just maybe, though I seriously doubt it would happen based on statements said to date, maybe Fender will figure out a way to support normal mode songs too! I can dream, right?
Dunno if anyone is still checking this, but the Squier Strat has been dated and priced. $279.99, release on 3/1/11, pre-orders start 1/1/11. Just got an e-mail update from Fender.